27 graduate from Staten Island's Richmondtown Preparatory School

Advance photo/Irving SilversteinMary Ida, Michelle Ricco and Loretta Sobalvarro smile before the start of the Richmondtown Preparatory School graduation at the Hilton Garden Inn, Bloomfield.

With inside jokes and the camaraderie that comes with longtime friendships, the students and staff at Staten Island's Richmondtown Preparatory School celebrated the school's 45th commencement at the Hilton Garden Inn, Bloomfield, today.

A small school with a graduating class of just 27 seniors, many said they were sad to leave a family that not only helped them achieve their goals but also taught them important lessons about life.

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"For them, it did become their home," said the school's headmaster, Jeanne White. "Here, they learned confidence. They learned discipline. They learned to believe in themselves."

Indeed, the students helped each other pull through their toughest assignment - a challenging, in-depth term paper on Hamlet. As part of the assignment, the students had to point out and prove seven characteristics of the play by getting to know it inside and out.

By the end, Ms. White said, the students replaced their fear of Shakespeare with pride and understanding.

"The whole idea is to teach them they can achieve whatever they set their minds too," she said.

"We have always known this day would come," said Nicole Ruggiero, the school's Valedictorian, to her classmates. "Now it is time to step up and be the authors of our own stories."